TO THE EDITOR:
Melania Trump recently finished a tour of Africa in promotion of women’s and children’s health. But the best way to help women in Africa may actually be right at home: the Global HER Act. This policy would rescind Trump’s Global Gag Rule which denies $8.8 billion in funding to global health organizations yearly, hindering health efforts worldwide. The cause? To deny foreign people a right guaranteed to Americans: the right of legal, safe access to abortions. However, this policy goes beyond the abortion debate. It denies funding to other health issues, such as AIDS and malaria. Once again, the United States is holding healthcare hostage to play politics, and foreign countries are forced to choose between their sovereignty and their health. The result: people losing access to much needed healthcare, while continuing restrictions on women’s rights to choose their healthcare and control their own bodies.
Clayton Covington
Charlotte, N.C.
